July, 29 – Belleek Castle, Ballina, Co. Mayo
What’s the best way to a man’s heart? Well in Enda Harte’s case, it was through his adorable dog Bruno. Enda, from Sligo asked Mayo native Seán Murphy out on a date after a few weeks of flirtatious messaging over the internet, Seán showed up with two tennis balls to win Bruno over and didn’t stop with him. The couple now live in Sligo with Bruno and their second golden Labrador, Harvey.
THE PROPOSAL
On New Years Eve of 2013 the pair were out partying in the local nightclub with some friends when Seán took Enda to a quiet place and asked him to Marry him. Of course Enda said yes and they rang in the new year as an engaged couple.
Shortly after the pair got planning and set their date for July 29, 2016. “When it came to setting a date we chose July 2016 in the hopes the referendum would have occurred and gone through by then,” Enda recalls. They settled on Belleek Castle for their celebrations and never looked back. Their day was shared with 209 guests who all had a fabulous time celebrating with the couple.
THE WEDDING DETAILS
Berenice Farrell officiated the ceremony and they had a sleek black, gold and canine theme running through the wedding. Despite not knowing what kind of outfits they were going for, the guys set out to find some eyecatching suits for their big day and they were in luck when they came across SuitRepublic in Galway. Seán went for a chocolate brown three-piece suit and Enda chose a blue tweed three-piece. Seán found them both fantastic handmade buttonholes on Etsy to compliment the suits. They had a witness each who both wore pink dresses from Oasis.
Belleek Castle provided centrepieces for the tables and Seán designed and made the decorations for the top table. He also made the table numbers with bottles painted black with a gold rim to fit in with their theme. They had black and gold place cards as well as a canine on their invites and cake. The three-tier chocolate biscuit cake was designed and made by a friend of the pairs and was topped with two Labrador figurines.
The lovebirds entered the ceremony to Little Mix’s rendition of ‘I Will Wait’ and they exited to an acoustic version of ‘Defying Gravity’ from the musical Wicked. They entered the reception to Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t stop the feeling.’ Their band was Blue Moose, an easy choice as the gents had come across them many times in a local bar. Eamonn O’Boyle photographed their wedding day, Darragh Kerrigan Creative, a local graphic designer, designed their invites.
MEMORIES
Enda’s favourite memory of the day is when Berenice, their celebrant, pronounced them husband and husband, “When our celebrant Berenice introduced us officially as husband and husband, it sunk in, we did it. Sean’s sister made reference to Ireland saying Yes in May 2015 when she made her speech after dinner, this also reminded me of how far we came as a country,” Enda remembers. The grooms went for a roast pig on a spit for their midnight food and it went down a treat with guests.
ADVICE
“From day one we wanted our day to be about us. While it’s great to receive suggestions and input from people, we based all decisions around the mantra “Our day, Our way”. Anything that didn’t feel right or we felt wasn’t us we decided against. Once you set a date, book the celebrant, venue and entertainment. Make sure to build in break times, as you will both be exhausted chatting to everyone and smiling for the camera. This will give you both time to reflect on things as they happen throughout the day. “
What was your experience like at Belleek Castle Hotel?
“When we viewed the hotel we just knew this was very us. It had so much character and we could just picture our nearest and dearest celebrating our big day with us. Every interaction with the staff was a joy from the initial viewing to subsequent meetings with Maya the manager or Stephen the chef. Nothing was too much trouble, advice and suggestions were there if needed. The food was out of this world and the wine was perfect for the day. We cannot recommend the venue highly enough for their personal service and attention to detail. “
